Slip and Slide Jazzy

I haven't been able to post for a while because I wanted to leave Ellison's news as it is so incredible and it is one of my favorite.

But...Jazzy has been up to some fun playing days and I think she is quite excited to show off how much of a dare devil she is, despite the fact that she is scared of walking in a parking lot or even getting out of the car.  We discovered that Jazzy likes to go down slides. 

 

  At first she was kind of hesitant; but she put her paws out and began to slide down after which she jumped off the end and ran in those crazy circles that funny puppies do, she didn't know what happened but she was excited about it.  She ran straight up the stairs 2 more times, both with the same result of crazy circles and excitedness.  We weren't able to get a picture of the twirly slide fun because we were not expecting it, but we did get some of her going down the regular straight ones.  She also liked playing jollyball in the tennis courts just as it started to rain.

And the result.....................crazy circles

Ellison and cute little Audrey

Handsome Pants Ellison was a meant to be dog.  He landed in the perfect home, not only for him but for the amazing family he was placed with.  The child with which he was placed is one years old and is blind;

 Her name is Audrey!  She is so cute and already loves Ellison.

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Audrey's birthday was just a week before Ellison arrived at her home, so he made the perfect late birthday present.  Audrey's mom has left Audrey and Ellison alone in a room together only to come back to find a hysterically excited daughter.  Audrey loves his tail, petting his soft fur, and to hear his collar jingle as he walks through the house.  I guess Audrey doesn't know what to think when he licks her face though.  One time Audrey's mom found Audrey flicking food from her high chair straight into Ellison's mouth.

From the pictures Audrey's mom, Ashley, sent it is so easy to see that Ellison is having a great time with his family and is so loved by them.  He is so lucky, there is a tennis ball thrower in one of the pictures and they even let him step on the towel.  He got to spend a day at the dog park at Mission Bay and gets to go on  two walks every day.  Ellison is so happy!  

I am so excited he was placed with this family and know that he is exactly where he was meant to be!

Jazzy's Special Day

Jazzy had a special day last Thursday. My sister helps with a class of children with special needs and they wanted Jazzy to come for a visit. I talked to the children about how to approach a guide dog puppy and a little bit about what we do, but then just let them pet Jazzy and ask questions. They LOVED her.

It took a couple of the kids a few minutes to get close to her and pet her, but the girl who was so shy at first and could barely touch the back of her was one of the children that ended up loving her the most. (this is the girl on the right side with a huge smile). They were all crouched around her as close as they could get and she did great. Some of them did not know where to touch her so I showed them the body handling exercises that we do. They loved it when I showed them her teeth and she was so great to let me show them.

Another child that really liked Jazzy was the boy holding her leash. He loved to get by her and pet her and jumped up every time she moved because he was so excited. Two of the other boys were so genuine and asked so very many questions. It was a great experience for the class and for Jazzy.

When I was leaving one of the little boys was continually telling me something about the gym, but I didn't understand him. Finally one of the teachers told me that he was telling me that Jazzy needed to go have her picture taken in the gym because it was school picture day. He was very serious; it was pretty cute.

Jazzy and Nigella on a Tuedsay

It is not hard to tell from the pictures that Jazzy had a great time at Nigella's house. 

They got to play in a nice fenced in area, but....

I think they wondered why the cat got to be out, especially as the cat showed off by basking in the sunlight just outside the fence.  Or maybe they were just taking a nap together.

I am not sure why, but when Jazzy is playing her favorite position is on her back.  She loves to plop herself down, no matter what is in the way or how hard of a surface it is, and then let the other puppy try to get her while she fends them of with her feet and her little snapper.

I Didn't Know that Puppies Love to Wash Cars

Jazzy was outside yesterday and I decided to wash the car. She loved helping! She liked to help hold the rag while washing, create more bubbles, and spray the car with the hose.  One time while I was crouching down to wash the front of the car she came up behind me, put her paws on my shoulder, and then stood on her hind legs just watching me as I washed the car. She just stood there watching over my shoulder for about three minutes before I had to get up.

After she stirred up the water she wad quite a few bubbles on her face!

By the end of the car wash we had the cranberry juice, which had spilled through a crack of our table and dripped onto her, all out of her fur.

My nephew, Jazzy's Uncle Payton, came with all of his geese and ducks.  Jazzy and Daisy were very interested in them, but didn't dare get too close.  Payton really wishes that he could take Jazzy hunting because she would be such a great retriever (especially since he had to walk 120 yards in 3 feet deep mud today to retrieve a Mallard).

Jaya and Jazzy's 4 Month Birthday

Saturday was Jaya and Jazzy's 4 month birthday.  It is the age at which the pups begin to go many places they couldn't before, so for the big celebration we took the pups to Bearlake.  

It is easy to tell these pups are sisters, they are alike in so many ways; Ryan and I had to look at their tags to see which dog we had.  While they played it seemed that they did not know who was who either.  Jaya was chewing on her own foot at one time and Jazzy really liked to lick Jaya's ears. Yuck! 

When we began driving to Bearlake Jazzy and Jaya were already tired and slept all the way.  For the last half of the drive Jazzy and Jaya lay intertwined on the passenger's seat floor.  They were sleeping with paws crossed over and each one had their paw on the other's face. 

Once we arrived the puppies were so excited to get out on the beach and explore.  We headed straight toward the water, but Jazzy and Jaya were not sure what to think of all this water, and all the sand that looked so tasty to them.

They played tug and wrestle in the water, but neither of them really liked getting splashed and they could not figure out how to stop that.  While walking in and out Jaya would lift her feet high up in the air everytime as if she were trying not to hurt the sand underneath.  They liked to sneak up on each other and then pounce towards each other.  They started crouching down...

Then...pounced, splashed, and tackled!

Ryan and I had fun with them too.  I took each of them out deep enough where they could barely touch the bottom so that they could try swimming.  Jazzy did NOT like it.  Jaya was not sure what to think, but she swam around a few times before deciding it was not great.

This is Jaya swimming....

After a lot of play in the water AND the sand, it was definitely time for a nap.  Jaya chose the nice comfy and clean, previous to her getting on, blanket.  (Not really, it already had sand all over it). 

While Jaya was taking a nice afternoon nap I caught Jazzy being a curious pup.  I am not sure what she was looking for, but soon she had her head in the sand and her back end barreling up in the air.

.....Result..............................

They played one last game in the water and then we headed home with two very tired puppies, Ryan was pretty tired too.

After we arrived home we had to get all of that sand out of their fur, so we gave them a bath, TOGETHER!  They did not like it, but hopefully it helped that the other pup was in the tub with them.

They had a GREAT time playing together!

Jazzy and Willy's weekend

Willy and Jazzy had a fun filled weekend.  We took them to a fenced area and let them play together outside.  The two crazy puppies somehow got stuck playing tug around a tree.  I think the tree was winning.

They loved to play tug together, and usually with the least attractive and most slobbery tug toy.  Their favorite toys to steal from each other was the long straight white one and the sterilized bone, but it really just depended on which one the other puppy wanted.  Jazzy was not a very good attacker so she was usually on the bottom.  When she did attack, she would sneak up really slowly and then leap onto Willey, but only to land like a floating feather.  Willy didn't really even pay attention.

Since it was the weekend we all slept out on the floor in the living room.  Willy on one side of the room on a doggy bed and jazzy on the other side of the room in her bed.  And I was stuck in the middle.  At one time in the middle of the night I recall both dogs breathing into my opposing ears.  But they were so good.  We had a fun time. 

On Sunday we took them to the river walk and let Willy play around in the water.  He loved swimming!  Afterward he came inside ready for some more playing, but Jazzy went straight to napping.

Canine Carnival

All the puppies had a great time at the Canine Carnival.   They almost out numbered the people so some us had to handle two or three at a time.  It was quite tricky, but the puppies sure loved playing together.

Jazzy, Jaya, and Nigella had a great time playing in the puppy pen.  While Jazzy and Jaya played Nigella would often navigate herself into the opposite corner to pose for pictures.  She really is quite the diva.  In order to pose perfectly for the camera she had to steer clear of the crazy black puppies.

After playing and receiving a lot of attention they all decided it was time to take a nap together.

While the three small puppies took a nap Jakota was playing musical hula hoops.  It's a good thing she didn't win because the prize was dog icecream.

The "Big Boys", Fallon and Willy were left sleeping by the tent.  Fallon woke up for a minute and he must have been slobbering because when he sat up there were pine needles stuck to the side of his face.

After the agility dogs finished their competitions, the guide puppies went to play on the equipment.  Although not all the puppies thought it was fun.

We got a couple of the pups to go through the tunnels and two almost right together.  Once Jazzy began speeding through the tunnel, Willy decided it didn't look so bad, so he followed her through.  Somehow, I caught a picture of Jazzy running through the tunnel and Fallon leaping out the end.

The next mission for the day was to get all the puppies together for pictures, but without people. 

It wasn't going really well so many of the leads were hooked to Fallon.  He did a pretty good job of keeping them together, but I don't know if he enjoyed it. 

We gave the puppies some water in Willy's small bowl to get them together.  It definitely drew all of their attention, but they had quite the time trying to drink at the same time.  

And those were the best group puppy pictures out of  several!!!  That is what you expect of dogs though, especially six of them together.

The two sisters sure were cute together.   

Unlike Nigella, Jazzy doesn't really like to pose, but she sure did hold still well for this photo:

  It had been a long day for all of the puppies.  After we arrived back home Willy thought it would be fun to cool off in the pool.

Willy and Jazzy's Napping Time

One of the things Ryan likes the very most about puppies is when they nap together.  Early  Sunday afternoon Ryan said that the only way that Jazzy and Willy would nap together was if Willy was lying down and tired and Jazzy went and curled up next to him (because that is what she likes to do with us, she LOVES to snuggle up close when she sleeps, she likes to lay on top of us and press her body up against ours).  Just about an hour later, Ryan left the room for a minute and it happened.  Both of the puppies were lightly napping and then Jazzy slowly got up and moved over towards Willy.  Then she went close and sat right next to him, sitting in his lap.  After just a second, Jazzy slowly pushed herself into a tight curl against Willy.  She then straightened her head out over his arms and then Willy laid his head over her neck.  It was super cute.  They just laid there; I wish I had had my camera.  After just a minute Ryan opened the door to return to the room and they jumped up, so he didn’t get to see anything.  He was so disappointed. 

It really was super cute how Jazzy slowly maneuvered herself into a curl in Willy’s lap; she made each move slowly to make sure that it was going to be ok with Willy.  Then when she finally curled up next to him he not only accepted it, but I think he liked snuggling too.  Ryan wanted to recreate it.  I told him there was no way he could recreate that, but he tried anyway.  The closest he got was them lying next to each other, but not napping or curled up close.   I did get a picture of when Ryan tried to recreate it.

He is still trying to get then to nap together right now!